Improvement in fire-escapes



G. GATES. Fire-Escape.

No. 209,555. Patented Nov.5, 1878.

ATTORN EY hi PETERS, FHOTO-LITHDGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OHESLEY GATES, OF INDEX, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF QNE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO' WILLIAM KIN G, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT lN FIRE-ESCAPES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No- 209,555, dated November 5, 1878 application filed September 18, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHESLEY GATES, of Index, in the county of Cass and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accom panyin g drawin gs, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a fireescape embodying the improvements in my invention, and Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the frame, pulleys, and rope that are employed to operate the escape-car.

This invention has relation to fire-escapes; and it consists in the improvements in the construction of the same hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the figures.

A frame, A, carrying the pulleysB, O, and

D, is secured to the inside of the building above The rope E, commencing wherethe window. it is secured to the base of the frame A,passes down the base around the block F, up again over the central pulley, 0, down under the lower pulley, D, up against the central pulley, C, over the upper pulley, B, down through a hole in the cross-bar a at the lower part of the frame A, where, when not in use, it may be coiled upon the floor.

The car G is composed of two axles, b I), provided with wheels 0 0, each provided with a semicircular iron frame, d d. The only connection between the axles and frames is the canvas or webbing e, which forms a basket, f, open at the top only when extended. This construction admits of folding the car or basket into a small compass when not in use.

The wheels run against the wall on the outside of the house, and the axles are made sufficiently long to permit the wheels to straddle a window. The wheels also prevent the car from stopping in case it meets a projection in the wall either in ascending or descending.

In order to operate the escape the car should be placed upon the outside of the window and the end of the rope thrown out upon the ground, where it can be operated either by the people on they ground or by the persons in the room from which it is to descend. It is only necessary for some person in the car or some one on the ground to grasp and hold the rope, when the car can be either lowered or raised with great ease, thus enabling parties to escape from the burning building in which this fireescape is employed.

The canvas connecting the axles and frames of the car permits it to be folded when not in use.

The utility and cheapness of the invention are obvious. 1

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful, and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States, is

In a fire-escape, the frame A, provided with the free pulleys B and D, having the frictionpulley (I placed between them, in combination with the rope E and the semicircular collapsible carriageG, having the hinged handle and rims d d, connected by flexible fabric f, and

further provided with the wheels 0 c, the whole I OHESLEY GATES.

Witnesses A. S. OBANNoN, D. B. WASHINGTON. 

